(EL UIVERSAL).-The Venezuelan government has released a communiqué in response to the recent statements made by Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy, where the Guyanese official noted her country was exploring options other than the Good Offices process, agreed upon by both countries to settle their dispute.

In the communiqué, Venezuela underlines “it is willing and committed to finding a practical, peaceful, and satisfactory solution to the border dispute. This policy has been endorsed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has made a great deal of effort to further enhance bilateral relations between the two countries in all areas, particularly in trade and cooperation via Petrocaribe.”

Maduro’s government remarked it still looks forward to reaching a solution to “finally leave behind the scars left by colonialism in the heart of Our America as it endeavored to divide us to avoid the union of Latin America and the Caribbean…”

The communiqué stressed that appointing promptly by common consent the personal representative of the United Nations secretary-general for the purpose of the Good Offices Process was a good sign.

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela firmly believes that this mechanism continues to be the right political and legal path to settle the border dispute. This explains why it is so critical for the sake of the process that the government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana responds to the requests made by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for the prompt designation of the Good Officer.”